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Turkey: Pro-Kurdish DTP party targeted for
seeking peace, says leader
4.12.2007
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December
4, 2007
Istanbul, - Turkey's pro-Kurdish Democratic
Society Party (DTP) says it has been isolated for
seeking a "peaceful solution" to the current
conflict between Ankara and Turkey's Kurdish PKK
militants.
The party, which has 20 seats in the 550-member
Parliament, is fighting for its survival after
Turkey's Constitutional Court last week decided to
consider a request from state prosecutors to outlaw
it.
"They have isolated us because we are calling for a
peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue," one of the
party's founders, Mustafa Avci, told AKI in
Istanbul. |
Mustafa Avci, one of the DTP party's founders |
Turkish prosecutors want to shut down the party over
what they claim is its close ties with Kurdish
militants and its calls for autonomy for Turkey's
mainly Kurdish southeast region.
While distancing the party from violence or
terrorism,www.ekurd.net
Avci defended the
militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its
goals.
"The objectives of the PKK do not envisage the
destruction of the state of Turkey, but only the
freedom to express their own diversity in this
country, " he said.
"We first need to resolve the social, ethnic and
political issues regarding the Kurds. If they are
resolved and the PKK continues to use weapons, then
we ourselves would be at the front of the Turkish
parties, describing it as a group of terrorists."
The DTP, which has called for the autonomy of the
Kurds, is expected to stand trial but it is unclear
what measures might be taken against the party.
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling
centre-right AK Party have said they are not in
favour of closing down political parties - a move
which would go against the spirit of reforms linked
to Ankara's bid to join the European Union.
But Turkish courts have shut down several
predecessors of the DTP in the past 20 years after
ruling they had supported terrorism and Avci says
the party is often targeted by nationalists.
"Every time there is a protest of young nationalists
carrying Turkish flags, their main target is our
party office and every time they throw stones, break
windows and set the premises on fire," he told AKI.
"Despite this, our parliamentarians and our leaders
insist on calling for a peaceful political debate
and condemning the violence."
At the party conference held in November, the DTP
inserted regional autonomy in their party platform.
"It is a project that not only has a regional base,
but includes all the diversity that there is in the
country. From those who are religious, like the
large community of Alevis, to the ethnic communities
like the Kurds.
Minority Alevis describe themselves as ‘followers of
Ali’, bridegroom of the Prophet Mohammed. They are
neither Sunnis nor mainstream Shiites, and differ
from Sunni Islam concerning religious practices such
as prayer, pilgrimage and fasting.
"In Istanbul, a population of 16 million people, at
least a third are made of up of Kurds and this
proportion is similar to other big cities that are
found in the south-east region.www.ekurd.net
These minorities should
be part of our plans.
"With the latest historical changes, we no longer
feel the need for a national border. We look at the
example of the European Union. Our objective is the
free expression of our origins and our culture, in a
country that is and will be Turkey."
Meanwhile, a Parliamentary committee in the
autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, tasked with the
normalisation of the province of Kirkuk, will
consider Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution next
week.
Article 140 provides for three things:
normalisation, a census and a referendum. While it
is expected to be applied by the end of December,
official Kurdish sources believe it will be delayed
for another three months.
adnkronos com
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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